Found Objects

It’s a fine time of year for it, what with the Oscar contenders flooding the theaters and the usual surplus of downtime. Charlie Wilson’s War and Atonement are high on my list, but since I’ll be in Buckhannon, W.Va. next week, it’s likely my options will be limited to the Christmas movies and action flicks playing the local four-plex.

But what if I were going to New York City?

If I were Big Apple-bound, I might notice that the Freuds have been busy this month. Lucian Freud, grandson of Sigmund, turned 85 and was honored with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Lucian Freud, a figurative painter, was born during Nazi occupation and specializes in portraits of weary, burdened figures.

Sigmund’s great-granddaughter Esther Freud published a new novel titled Love Falls that received a warm review in the New York Times Book Review. It’s about the budding relationship between a girl on the cusp of adulthood and her distant father – a subject that might have given her famous ancestor pause.

The Freuds aren’t the only ones keeping busy. Late night talk show hosts are promising a return to the airwaves, but without the writers, who are still pacing the picket lines. That’s good news for Triad residents, given the seasonal lack of cultural events this week. Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman are all scheduled to return with new episodes on Jan. 2, according to the New York Times. Not all of the aforementioned hosts have agreed to cross the picket line, and the ones that do will still be short several writers.

Theater companies don’t take a year-end break in New York. But they do in the Triad. The footlights should flicker back to life in mid-January. Triad Stage opens the George Bernard Shaw play Mrs. Warren’s Profession at the end of January. The Opera Institute at NC School of the Arts will be presenting The Devil and Kate on January 30.

The galleries won’t be waiting as long. The Green Hill Center opens a printmaking exhibition on January 18, and the Weatherspoon will usher in the New Year with a variety of rotating exhibits.

And with that, I’m off. Have a great New Year; I’ll see you in 2008.

To have your information included, e-mail Amy Kingley at amy@yesweekly.com.